Gilbert Arenas Posts apology

WASHINGTON - Gilbert Arenas insists he now understands that “guns and violence are serious problems, not joking matters.”

In an op-ed piece written for The Washington Post and put on the newspaper’s Web site yesterday, the suspended Washington Wizards guard pledged to be a better role model and said a “message of nonviolence will be front and center as I try to rebuild my relationship with young people in the D.C. area.”

He continued: “I know that won’t happen overnight, and that it will happen only if I show through my actions that I am truly sorry and have learned from my mistakes. If I do that, then hopefully youngsters will learn from the serious mistakes I made with guns and not make any of their own.”

Wizards coach Flip Saunders supported Arenas’ decision.

“If he wants to get active in his community and try to help out kids, then he probably needed to say something. . . . He’s got to go with what he feels in his heart,” Saunders said before last night’s game against the Celtics [team stats].

“In talking to him, I think he understands the seriousness of what he did,” Saunders said. “He’s trying to let people know - kids, especially - that he had done something wrong and try to take what was really a negative and try to somehow have a positive impact.”

Arenas pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to a felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 26.

Last week, Arenas was suspended without pay for the rest of the season by NBA commissioner David Stern for bringing guns into the Wizards locker room as part of a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton stemming from a card game. Crittenton also brought a gun to the locker room - and he also was handed a season-ending suspension by Stern.